OCR Text |
Show 196 WAR FOR THE COLORADO RIVER "The interest that these Indians have in the project," said Cohen,269 "arises very simply from the fact that the land which is to be flooded, [and] the land which is to be used as a construction camp, belongs to the Hualapai Tribe. It does not belong to the Bureau of Reclamation, despite the impression that some of the statements of that Bureau may have given. It does not belong to the Indian Service. It belongs to human beings who are American citizens, five hundred of them. It is their land. "Not only is it their land, but it is an important part of an industry by which these people have pulled them- selves up from the very bottom of the economic ladder in the last few years to build a thriving stock industry and to make themselves a self-supporting, self-reliant com- munity. "It has not only that economic value, but it has a very important human value to these people. "These people have been living here for centuries. The particular land which is to be flooded is, according to their tribal traditions, the original Garden of Eden where the first man was created. They have not been pushed here from some other part of the world. "They recognize, themselves, that in the course of economic progress and development they must make sacrifices and they are prepared to make these sacrifices, but they want fair treatment. They want to be treated like human beings, like American citizens . . . they want fair compensation for the losses that they must suffer. . ." Cohen offered several amendments to the bill, and Murdock, concern showing in his face, admitted them for consideration. The issue would become of great interest to the committee, and it would be gone into |